Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutional power of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to deregister political parties.
The apex court, in a unanimous judgment, upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal which had earlier affirmed the deregistration of the National Unity Party, NUP, and others.
INEC last year announced the deregistration of 74 political parties on the grounds that they did not win any elective position during the 2019 general election.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro, the Supreme Court held that INEC had the legal power to deregister the affected political parties.
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The appellants had approached the Supreme Court, seeking an order to set aside the judgment of the appellate court on the grounds that the electoral umpire’s action was illegal and unconstitutional.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, in a judgment delivered in July, last year, affirmed the powers of INEC to deregister political parties.
The appellate court in its unanimous decision delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris, held that INEC acted within the constitutional provisions as well as the Electoral Act in sacking the political parties which failed to win a single office in the last general election.
